data recorder, and finding it among the peaks and the valleys could be harder still. >> if it is in one of the deeper challenges, that is one of the larger fields. >> alexandra fields, cnn. you are in the "cnn newsroom" and i'm jim sciutto in new york in for don lemon, and we'd like to welcome the view issers watching around -- viewers watching around the viewers watching around the world on cnn international. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com the p8 poseidon left from perth australia to track several new clues in the missing jet. a spotter on an australian plane reported several small objects yesterday including a wooden pallet floating in the area, and also, a potential piece of the

jet in which a chinese satellite spotted this object four days ago, and the object is very long, 43 feet long and 74 feet long. and so this is similar to the image on thes a australian satellite image. the families of those on board are so emotional. responding to the the ainnger a the emotion, the malaysian officials are promising to do a better job of keeping the desperate families informed, and we can't forget about the search for the plane on land. right now, malaysia is asking kazakhstan to have permission to search the northern corridor. we have teams on every angle of

the earth searching for the missing airliner. from kuala lumpur, australia and malaysia. we have news of the p8 scheduled to take off for the search area. and can you talk us through the assets up in the air today, kyung lah, and how are they zeroing in on the japanese satellite image and if it showed what could be part p of the plane. >> the target area that they want to fly over, and look at it, and what they are doing to d today is that the australians are coordinating all of this, and adding more air assets and not just australia and the u.s. which is rejoining after a couple of days on the ground, but also have new zealand and china and there is a lot of intriguing news out of china, and specifically, that satellite image that you were talking about, jim, and joining me now is jeffrey thomas, the local aviation expert, and the editor of the airline ratings, and you

have seen the image and in touch of all of the experts on the ground, and what do you think of the image? >> look, we believe that the image is another piece of debris possibly from this flight. there's strong indications that this could be part of a wing or the horizontal stabilizer of the airplane. it does not have any markings on it, but that is consistent with the horizontal stabilizer and/or part of the wing. >> reporter: is there a sense that this is it, that this is the same image that the australians picked up? >> no, this is a sense that it is a different piece of debris, and this is the feedback they 'm getting. they are not the same dimensions. this one is 22.5 meters by 13 meters and the other one was a different dimension to this, and it is an indication that it is different. >> and all of the experts there, what is the sense of how the search is going? >> look, the feeling is that it

is going well, and it is very frustrating and very difficult out there. very difficult out there. they feel as though they are on to something. i mean, look, we would all love to find this airplane somewhere else. in a jungle runway if you'd like, and some better outcome, but if it is out there, this is not a good outcome. >> and the sense is that maybe, maybe this is it. >> maybe. >> reporter: and as far as the conditions, there is a storm coming out here, and tell me about that. >> well, look, there is a remnant of a cyclone in american parlance, hurricane. remnants of a hurricane coming down to join up with a cold front and a maelstrom out there and a wild storm if you like. and it is already difficult out, there and the normal sea state is 20 to 30-foot swells out there, and this is going to make it more difficult, and rain and low cloud, and tough.

>> reporter: will they be able to fly? is. >> well, good question. the first aircraft have gone t out, and they will get out there to assess the situation. after that assessment, they may postpone launching more aircraft today. >> jeffrey thomas, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us. and they are going to fly right now, but it is going to be tougher as the waeather moves i. >> thank you, kyung lah, at the epicenter of the search area with the assets going up to take a look at the satellite images. and now to help us we have tom fuentes, and jim tillman, and cnn analyst and retired pilot himself, and our own cnn aviation analyst miles o'brien. mile miles, i want to start with you, just for the viewers to i suppose put the expectations into context here. this is the third satellite photo that we have had and treated as a clue, and the first one was really a disastrous mistake, and a chinese satellite

as well, and put the search up there in the south china sea, and now we have a photo, and the australians said that there were a lot of planes in the air yesterday, and saw nothing, and how significant of a development is this or does it show just how little progress is made in the investigation that, you know, what they have to latch on to clues like this, because they don't have anything else? >> well, what you said there at the end is the most accurate statement that we can say. in the absence of anything else to look for, you check it out. but we don't even know that it went in that direction, and you know, when you look at that piece, not only is the piece an odd and large shape and it would be very, i'm trying to come up with the circumstances that would allow a piece of aluminum wing to still be floating two weeks later, and possibly, because strange things do happen, but having said all of that, but if it was a in fact, a piece of debris from the

aircraft there would be other flotsam nearby, and so it is grainy, and perhaps more than meets our eyes, but this is the only thing that anybody has at this point. and to just start searching the big arcs north and south randomly is a commitment that is even hard for us to comprehend the amount of space involved. i do wonder why we don't think about deploying some drones, and deploy a global hawk which has a 15 to 20-hour range, and have it fly the flight path as we know it, and perhaps interrogate, and go along the broad swathes to see if there is anything there. that might be a good use of that particular craft. >> and good question, and i might put that to tom fuentes, because there is a number of sensitive and capable assets involved in the search.

and the p8 poseidon is the most advanced search aircraft that the kcountry has, and chinese putting search and destroy carriers in the search, and why would the global hawk not be put in effect because of the widened range as miles say. >> well, the classified nature of it, and for the possibility of people not wanting to see how it works up close or how to get their hands on it if it goes down, and that is the only thing that i can think of and the question should be posed to the pentagon and ask them, and you may get the same answer as you get when you ask about the submarines that we are just not going to tell you. >> and jim, let me put this question to you, that miles said, imagine a piece still floating on the surface after the loss, and it could be a collection of debris tangled together, and you know the planes very well sh, and

experienced pilots, and do you see something there that looks like part of a airplane? >> no, i don't. i have to join the chorus of those who have a lot of skepticism about it, because i don't see any definition that is going to give me a feeling like, hey, this really looks like part of an airplane. it looks like a thing that is out there, and the measurements are still a little bit off from my view. no, i just feel like we have got more to see. >> well, it is just the beginning really. the 16 days later. thank you jim tilmon, and tom fuentes, and miles o'brien. and a large object floating this the southern indian ocean raises hopes for some, and it could narrow the search for flight 370. if there is anything to find something else, richard quest will join us to talk about the frustrating hunt for this 777. dear sun,

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bad weather could hamper searches here where planes are just taking off. a new satellite image taken by china shows a large object about the size of a tennis court floating in the indian ocean. we have our correspondent richard quest joining us. it would help the viewers to bring together some of the developments today to say where we stand, and first on the search and the investigation, and let's talk about the search. so, you have a new chinese satellite photo looking like the australian photo, but it is 75 miles away, and more planes in the same area searching and how much in the step forward? >> well, the prime minister of australia said, it is the only lead that we have. >> well, he said promising, and then backed off. >> he said credible and then identifiable and then he backed

off when he said it may be a container. >> but it is still the best they have got. and that is why to quote the prime minister at it again, they are throwing everything they have got at it, and that i will continue to do so. >> and more and more is coming, because there is a new tool, and airplane and ship. >> and look at whoo is there. you have the australians and the new zealand air force, and the u.s., and you is got the chinese now arrived. >> and nine chinese ships. >> and aircraft on the ground, and the brits are about to arrive and the malaysians are also coming as well, and it is all being coordinated by the australians out of perth. so you have got lots of assets now there, because it is still the best hope that they have got. if you look at the northern corridor. countries like kazakhstan and india and thailand. >> and even laos, and they have said that they are looking to deploying assets.

>> well, they have said that there is no evidence, and they have all looked at the radar track, and there is no evidence of any malaysian or 370 going over their air space. >> why do they keep the northern corridor open as a search area as a possibility? >> well, it is open dare i say just in case. and they are keeping it open, and assets, and still flying out from there, because if you look at the map again, and we bring the map up again. you will have not only where the plane might have been down at the bottom of the southern corridor, but still the potential of finding debris where it might be in the further upper part of that southern corridor. >> yes. >> and the general view is, despite those analysts, despite those pundits that believe it landed somewhere in the northern corridor, the main prevailing view remains that it is the southern corridor that is where it is going to be found. >> and it is the best guess with

all of the available information, and they have to deploy the best assets there. and where do we stand in the investigation, as to what caused this? is we have the transcript perhaps of the last communications released 24 hours ago, and not a lot there. are we any closer to figuring out what happened to this plane, and even in the process of elimination? >> no, is the short and the simple answer. the malaysian defense minister of the daily briefing on the transcript said specifically, there was nothing abnormal about what is in the transcript, and then he went one further, and he said that the transcript was not accurate. but of course, the malaysians have not released the transcript, because that is against the rules of the iko treaty, so they have not released the transcript so we can't know what is not accurate about it. the fbi has been searching the compu computer, and to see what was deleted and we now understand from the law enforcement officials that there is nothing particularly untorrid, so far n the background of the pilots or

the computer. >> right. >> and we know from the malaysian officials, themselves, they can see nothing untorrid, and so to say, that we have to pull the strands together on the investigation side, we are still absolutely nowhere closer to knowing what happened. >> and it is enormously frustrating and what it shows you is that the two strands come back together, because the next big clue in what brought this plane down is the wreckage. because the wreckage could give enough of an explosianation, of explosion or what have you. >> it is not a question of why, but where. on both of those issues, we still have no evidence or certainty of which we can move forward. and the truth is, jim, no matter what anybody says, we don't know. in that environment, they are still going to have the search

on the only place they have got, the south indian ocean. >> and frustrating as we know. >> the planes are in the air and on the way. >> and they left 20 minutes ago. >> and four hours there, and two hours searching, and four hours back. >> and the story could change quickly if they spot something from the air or another frustrating day, and of course, frustrating most of all for the families. >> awful. >> and thank you, richard quest, as always, and we are also following another big story today, and this is is the crisis in ukraine. the military bases of crimea are slipping from control as the russian troops roll through their gates wchl e -- gates. we will have more after this. imagine if everything you learned led to the one job you always wanted. at university of phoenix, we believe every education- not just ours- should be built around the career that you want.

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welcome back. i i'm jim sciutto in new york. there are new developments in the search for malaysian airlines flight 370, and we will come back to the coverage in a moment. we want the bring you first an important update in ukraine. russian tanks went right up to the military bases and rolled right through the door. armored soldiers and vehicles went right on to the base and took control and raised the russian flag over the headquarters. it is just one day after russia annexed the peninsula, and one

way to take over from the interim government in ukraine. >> reporter: the russian military is taking over the ukrainian air bases today. there was an armored personnel carrier who battoned down the base, and he vowed to stand his post, and it is basically and fortunately a nonlethal assault by the russian military that forced the ukrainian officers there to give a humiliating surrender to the russian military, and this is a scene that has played out again and again at one base after another in the crimean peninsula, which is causing some crimeans to ask the government, what are you doing about the thousands of ukrainian troops on the ground left incircumstanencircled by t

military. and the government came out to say, i am waiting for a response from the civilian authorities to take a plan, and i cannot issue the orders unilaterally, and at this point the ukrainian government in kiev has prepared accommodation for over 25,000 evacuees from the crimean peninsula, but it has not issued any unilateral order for all of the troops of what to do. so it is leaving commanders basically encircled to have to make their own decisions, and their own surrenders if you will. in one case, the ukrainian submarine commander was forced to hand over his submarine to the russian military and it is humiliating and embarrassing to the servicemen, but that is what we have seen over the course of the crimean peninsula in the last week.

more clues as to what might have happened to flight 370. we go the beijing where the family families are watching and waiting and the frustrations are boiling over. our clients need a lot of attention. there's unlimited talk and text. we're working deals all day. you get 10 gigabytes of data to share. what about expansion potential? add a line, anytime, for $15 a month. low dues, great terms. let's close! new at&t mobile share value plans our best value plans ever for business.

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a high-tech u.s. navy search plane is back in the air right now heading to the remote part of the southern indian ocean where chinese officials say that the satellite picked up this image, and a strong suggestion that it is piece of the missing passenger jet. and the news is getting a mixed reaction from the frustrated families of the 239 people on the plaep. they have endured now more than two weeks of no answers about the fate of their loved ones. the intense search for flight 370 will resume for another day. a short time ago, search planes are hoping the find debris such as the object seen in the latest chinese image, and it is not a lot to go on, and so far the search planes have found nothing

in the area. david mckenzie is live in beijing. david, i have to imagine, and we have talked about it before, but each bit of news is frustrating for the families, and particu r particularly as they have often been followed or followed by disappointment, and how are they reacting now to the latest satellite photo? >> well, jim, that is a good point. it is frustrating. and it is much worse than that in fact, because i mean, look at it this way, every time a little bit of evidence comes out that suggests that the plane might be found, it is evidence of indicating that the plane would have crashed. so yes, for the families, they want closure in the matter, but when they see photographs like this chinese satellite image, and they would have been alerted about this straight of way, for them, they don't want it to be true in a way, because then it will extinguish all hope, and i have spoken to koucounselors ov the last few days and families of course, and they say that people will hold out on to hope for as long as they can, and

until there is conclusive evidence that this plane went down, and they will not believe it. and so, yes, frustration, anger, and often just sad innocenness hotel here in beijing where the people have been stuck for more than two weeks, jim. >> and it is truly heartbreaking to imagine that. we know that china, and the bulk of the passengers on board were chinese and devoting an enormous amount of resources now, and you say that you have new details of what china is sending there, and they have nine ships helping with the search, but what other assets are they deploying? >> well, it is a huge asset deployment by china and very rare in that part of the world and to have the ships as you say, and enormous transport plane landing in perth to give assistance and they have sent an icebreaker, the "snow queen" into the area erea that has